American Canyon Fire offers some critical safety information in their video: Fire Safety, Smoke Detectors. You can click the video below to watch the short presentation. We have pulled some of their main points for you.
1. While there are many tools you can use to prevent home fires, the smoke detector is the most important.
2. Since the battery powered smoke detector was created, deaths due to home fires have been decreased by half.
3. Everyone who lives in a home with a smoke detector needs to be familiar with the sound the detector makes when it is activated.
4. There are still homes that do not have smoke detectors in them, and these homes account for about half of all deaths due to fire in the home.
5. In one-fourth of the reported fires that occurred in homes that had smoke detectors, those detectors were not in working condition. Often, smoke detectors do not work due to batteries that are either dead, missing or are not connected to the smoke detector.
6. There are now more homes with smoke detectors that do not work than there are homes that contain no smoke detectors.
7. American Canyon Fire recommends testing your smoke detector every month by pushing the test button, and every six months you should change the batteries. Keep in mind also, when you hear chirping from your smoke detector, it is a sign that the batteries are running low and should be replaced.
8. American Canyon Fire also recommends clearing out cobwebs or debris from your smoke detector every six months, when you change the batteries. Spiders can cause false alarms from your smoke detectors. Using a can of canned air to spray your detector is a great way to clean it out.
9. Be sure you have a smoke detector on every floor of your home, even in the basement.
Click here to watch the entire video.